Reminiscing About How I Found Martial Arts

I was lucky that I grew up in the 70s and 80s when Asian culture, particularly martial arts, was becoming popular in the US. With the popularity of Bruce Lee movies, and the TV series Kung Fu it almost became a prerequisite to have a martial arts fight in many TV shows. I remember waiting for those fight scenes with great anticipation.

Additionally, my father was practicing Tai Chi from Robert Chuckrow and he took me to one of his classes. I remember watching him and his friend practice the Tai Chi form in our yard. My father even tried to get me to stand in a Tai Chi posture and it was really uncomfortable.  I was so rambunctious I was definitely not ready for the slow practice of Tai Chi. Then in the 80s, the TV mini-series, Shogun came on and I made myself a bokken and practiced cuts with it. I was so excited by Asian culture and swords that I really wanted to learn more.

All that media exposure sparked me to explore further and I remember going to the local book store and checking out the martial arts section. It was only a few books and there was an orange book, much like this one pictured, that had historical illustrations of old time Jujitsu techniques. I bought it and became enthralled with those mysterious techniques. I tried to understand them but I couldn’t figure out the movements from the illustrations alone. 


I looked in the yellow pages and I remember seeing an advertisement for an Aikido class in a neighboring town. It seemed like it was a thousand miles away. Then I saw that our town had a Karate school so I did not have much choice. I ended up in Okinawan Goju ryu class and got my yellow belt. I remember the sensei telling us stories of the Okinawan masters he learned from, while in the military in Japan. Unfortunately, the school soon closed but luckily I found people who were into boxing. So I was still in the martial arts. However, in the back of my mind I still wanted to learn those traditional techniques found in Jujitsu and Aikido. After a couple of years of boxing I quit fighting all together. 

I had met some famous old boxing champs and realized that fighting and getting hit repeatedly in the head was not a healthy lifestyle choice. I forgot about the self development aspects of martial arts and boxing didn't teach those. So I thought I was done with the martial arts path. 

As I continued to explore other aspects of myself and grew as an adult, I once again saw a need to get back to martial arts.

This time I was in Seattle and there I had my pick of almost every imaginable martial arts style. I lived close to the International District and visited all kinds of schools offering Kung Fu, Brazilian Jujitsu, Hapkido and Aikido. I finally had my opportunity to study Aikido and learn those amazing mysterious techniques I dreamed about as a kid. So after many years I began learning everything I could and practiced intensely. Plus, there was a great group of people and we quickly became friends. The camaraderie at the school was a amazing.

 
Martial arts always came to my life in times when I needed guidance. In martial arts there is this important work being done that touches you on every level from the social to a deeply intimate and most personal. There is something compelling working out with people in a friendly but challenging manner that I have only found in martial arts.  I am very thankful that I grew up in a time when it was accessible to me. I honestly don’t know what I would have become had I not found the martial path.